So I have 30 to 50 nitrate according to salifert, and red sea test kit. Also I have 0 phosphate according to hanna, salifert, and red sea. I keep my alkalinity at 9.5 so is vodka dosing a good idea to take my nitrates down? Tried a refugium but chaeto dies I guess lack of phosphate. Tried nopox at 5mls a day and got a red slime in my pumps. Oh and my tank is a 180 with a 55 gallon sump over a year and a half old. So could vodka work to bring down my nitrates? My fish are getting skinny cause I feed 1 cube every 3 days. Run a sca302 and a reef octopus 110 skimmer. And do 30 to 50 gallon water change a week.
Vodka dosing
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Any form of carbon dosing needs both nitrates and phosphates to "work." Since your nitrates are high, and phosphates are zero, it won't work. Suggest frequent water changes.
Having no phosphate is not a good thing in the long term. I know this first hand from my experience with carbon dosing. I'm now fighting dinoflangilates as a result. WVNed is correct you can dose phosphate and carbon dose. Nopox is carbon dosing. I suggest you read up on dosing phosphate and get a Hanna ultra low checker for testing phosphate if you choose to go that route. When I started dosing the Hanna was always at 0. I was having to dose .03-.06ppm in a 90 gallon each day for several weeks before I noticed it balancing out to where I wanted it .02-.04ppm. Daily testing is required or you will make the problem worse. With this type of change go slow and in my experience it will take several months to get the nitrates down and balance the tank out. The reason for this, I believe, is because you are changing the environmental condition inside the tank and favoring different life forms. Think about the time it takes for the dominant species to die of and be out competed by the new dominant species. Best of luck & happy reefing.
You have phosphate - those test kits are just not precise. If you are going to do this, then you need better tools - get a Hannah Ultra Low Phosphorous checker.
Organic Carbon dosing is not bad, but the application can be. Go slow, be methodical and be careful. Sugar, vinegar or vodka will work just as well as any product that you can buy.
You need to have a REALLY good protein skimmer too. Otherwise, this is all for naught. It will need to be changed and cleaned frequently.
Organic Carbon dosing is not bad, but the application can be. Go slow, be methodical and be careful. Sugar, vinegar or vodka will work just as well as any product that you can buy.
You need to have a REALLY good protein skimmer too. Otherwise, this is all for naught. It will need to be changed and cleaned frequently.
If so, the the Nopox did that. That is not good. You need some so that living tissue can grow and repair. Even 1 to 5 PPB is fine, but zero is no good.
These two threads helped me make my stock solution and calculate how much of it to dose. I went with the Trisodium Phosphate (food grade from amazon) verse Potasium Phosphate since we can't test effectively for potassium. The only concern with the potassium is it building up over time, but there is no evidence that it happens to date.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/trisodium-phosphate-dosing-math.354337/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/trisodium-phosphate.338431/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/trisodium-phosphate-dosing-math.354337/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/trisodium-phosphate.338431/
